Methods for Cross-Market Brand Advertising, Content Metric Analysis, and Placement Recommendations

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method for processing and optimizing selection of placement of advertising content related to a brand in websites is provided. The method includes receiving from the user, attributes of an advertisement to be placed on a brand-centric website that relates to the brand, and receiving selections for types of websites to place the advertisement. The method further includes obtaining metrics from selected websites and historical performance for similar advertisements when placed on the selected websites. The method includes processing the obtained metrics and historical performance to define an advertising model. The advertising model defines a score correlated to effectiveness of the advertisement. Optimizing the advertising model is then performed to define a recommended advertising model, where the recommended advertising model defines optimal selections of websites for placement of the advertisement. The optimizing uses multivariable optimization to correlate the obtained metrics to a desired optimization criteria.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation application and claims priority toand benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/863,187 filed on Sep. 27, 2007, and entitled “Methods forCross-Market Brand Advertising, Content Metric Analysis, and PlacementRecommendations”, which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to co-pending: (1) patent application Ser.No. 11/736,560, filed on Apr. 17, 2007, entitled “Systems and Methodsfor Managing a Brand universe for User Information, Brand RelatedMarketing and User Interactivity”, and now abandoned, (2) patentapplication Ser. No. 11/736,571 filed on Apr. 17, 2007, entitled“Methods For Promoting Brand-Centric Advertising and Managing the Same”,and now abandoned, (3) patent application Ser. No. 11/863,204, filed onSep. 27, 2007, entitled “Methods for Managing Content for Brand RelatedMedia, and now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,290,982, and (4) patentapplication Ser. No. 11/863,202, filed on Sep. 27, 2007, entitled“Methods of Ranking Content for Brand Centric Websites”, and nowabandoned, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD

The present invention relates to methods for generating and managingbrand data from various sources and to the access and management of thebrand content by brand owner or brand managers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The computing industry has seen many advances in recent years, and suchadvances have produced a multitude products and services. Internetwebsites are examples of products and services, which are created togive users access to particular types of services, data, or searchingcapabilities. Today, websites can be readily created by most individualsdesiring to post information or provide access or connectivity to otherdata. Websites are also created, updated, and supported to provideconstantly updated current event information, news, and otherinformation. This data is highly managed and processed so that itspresentation can be easily displayed on web browsers or other Internetconnected devices.

Currently to date, however, content data is presented on websites forspecific content-type theme, and several brands may be presented(especially if the website is a commercial website). Although somemedia, news and entertainment websites attempt to cover lots ofinformation and on many different topics, the content related to anybrand mentioned on the site is only in limited scale. If users areinterested in finding more information about a specific brand, the usermust begin an intensive search for that brand content. Unfortunately forthe user, the search of a brand may turn up many pages, websites, andsources that speak about the brand, but in order to gain the bestunderstanding about the particular brand, the user will have to movefrom site-to-site, to assemble a full understanding or gain theinformation they desire.

The user, in this example, would feel disconnected with the brand, whenall is said and done, and the user may find him or herself exhaustedfrom the search and sometimes useless reading and web navigation. As aresult, these users, although they may have an interest or desire tolean more about a brand, will not find the process inviting nor incite aconnection to the brand. Furthermore, if other users also seek access tosimilar knowledge about the same brand, those other users will not haveknowledge about others having or desiring the same experience.Consequently, user experiences regarding particular brands tend tohappen in a relative vacuum.

It is in this context that embodiments of the invention arise.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and computerimplemented systems that provide content to be obtained, rendered, andproduced to define a brand centric site, in the form of an internetsite. The internet site will be accessible by any device having accessto the internet, whether it be traditional desktop computers, wirelessportable devices, televisions and any device capable of obtaining thecontent and displaying the content for user consumption. A brand centricsite is a site generated by a system that obtains (or uses instances of)brand related data from disparate content sources over the internet,assembles the content at a centric and dynamic location, and enablesinteractivity and brand data contribution (in terms of content,feedback, ratings, postings, uploads, comments, etc.). The brandcontribution can be by the brand owners, brand site managers, users,advertisers, etc. As the system pulls content from users themselves,disparate sites and data content channels, to dynamically generate brandsites, and users of the sites are encouraged to participate more andeventually grow into a passionate fan of the brand, as supported by thebrand site.

A benefit of having users fully engaged in the brand is that brandowners will immediately have a pool of users that are likely to bereceptive to new or additional brand products and services. The brandproducts and services may also be tangentially related products andservices, which may see high reception from the fan base of particularbrand sites. A benefit from the consumer's standpoint is, that theconsumer feels in control of his participation in the brand site. Forexample, the consumer can rate content, cause content to be removed orpromoted, the consumer can add his or her personal contribution to thebrand site, and the community can monitor the brand site for content notacceptable to the site. Over time, users are also provided theflexibility to customize their likes and dislikes to cause changes tothe presentation of the site content or deletion. If users are notregistered to a particular brand site, the brand site will dynamicallychange in content and presentation depending on the community of user'sfeedback and interactivity. If a user is signed in to the site, thecontent and presentation can change in presentation or existencedepending on the user's behavior or selected preferences.

By user behavior, it is meant that the system will monitor user activityand determine best placements and presentation of content, to best pullmore user interactivity from the user. If the user is signed in, thecontent placement and its presentation on the site can be controlled byboth the user's interactivity behavior and also by the interactivity ofthe community. In some cases, the user will only desire personalizationbased on his or her own preferences.

It should be appreciated that the present invention can be implementedin numerous ways, such as a process, an apparatus, a system, a device ora method on a computer readable medium. Several inventive embodiments ofthe present invention are described below.

In one embodiment, a method for defining advertising content related toa brand is provided. The method includes defining attributes of anadvertisement to be placed on a brand-centric website that relates tothe brand. Then, selecting types of websites to place the advertisement.The types of websites do not have to be brand-centric websites, butshould include content related to the brand. The method obtains metricsfrom selected websites and historical performance for similaradvertisements when placed on the selected websites. Then, the methodprocesses the obtained metrics and historical performance topreliminarily define an advertising model, where the advertising modeldefines a score correlated to effectiveness of the advertisement. Themethod also includes optimizing the advertising model to define arecommended advertising model. The recommended advertising model definesoptimal selections of websites for placement of the advertisement.

In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method for processing andoptimizing selection of placement, of advertising content related to abrand, in websites of a network is provided. The computer-implementedmethod is processed by a server in response to communication from a userthat is connected to the server over the Internet. The method includesreceiving from the user, attributes of an advertisement to be placed ona brand-centric website that relates to the brand, and also receivingselections for types of websites to place the advertisement. The typesof websites do not have to be brand-centric websites, but should includecontent related to the brand. Then, the method includes obtainingmetrics from selected websites and historical performance for similaradvertisements when placed on the selected websites. The method includesprocessing the obtained metrics and historical performance topreliminarily define an advertising model. The advertising model definesa score correlated to effectiveness of the advertisement. Optimizing theadvertising model is then performed to define a recommended advertisingmodel, where the recommended advertising model defines optimalselections of websites for placement of the advertisement. Theoptimizing uses multivariable optimization to correlate the obtainedmetrics to a desired optimization criteria.

In still another embodiment, a system for processing and optimizingselection of placement, of advertising content related to a brand, inwebsites of a network, is provided. The system includes an ad processingserver in communication with a remote computer accessed by a user. Thead processing server receives attributes from the remote computer of anadvertisement to be placed in relation to a brand-centric website. Thead processing server receives selections for types of websites to placethe advertisement, and the types of websites do not have to bebrand-centric websites, but should include content related to the brand.The system also includes a metrics server for processing metrics for theselected websites and historical performance for similar advertisementswhen placed on the selected websites. The metrics server processingmetrics and historical performance being used to preliminarily define anadvertising model, such that the advertising model defines a scorecorrelated to effectiveness of the advertisement. An optimization engineis provided to process the metrics and historical performance. Theoptimization engine is configured to perform multivariable optimizationto generate a recommended advertising model, and the recommendedadvertising model defines optimal selections of websites for placementof the advertisement. The brand-centric website that relates to thebrand is defined by one or more modules, each module contains one ormore of text, images, video clips, or graphics, and each module includesat least some content related to the brand.

Other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may best be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates how brand events shape or impact consumer interest,in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates layers of content that can be accessed to generate abrand site, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example brand site, which accesses instances ofbrand content from separate websites, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example of content that may be accessed togenerate a brand site, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a system diagram of the brand site components andmodules, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 5A illustrates a system diagram of components that are accessedinterfaced to define brand content that is used to generate a brandsite, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 5B illustrates a more detailed diagram of a system that managesaccess and data for generation of brand sites, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 5C illustrates a bi-directional graph of relationships, inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 5D illustrates related data and instances, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example brand site, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate example brand modules used to define a brandsite, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIGS. 8A-8B illustrate examples of brand sites and advertisementintegration, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a brand “persona” that is used to generate a brandsite, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate examples of ad content being associate withparticular brand content, and its association across brand instances, inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIGS. 11A-11E illustrate example advertising interfaces, in accordancewith one embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates a graphical representation of a plurality ofinstance-level websites, as related to acceptance of proposedadvertising, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 13 and 14 identify a process for defining an ad and for shapingthe identification of an optimized set of websites, for placing an ad.

FIG. 15 shows a relationship between a brand site and the network sitesthat have some content related to the brand, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 illustrates a system diagram of servers and communication withthe servers to process the optimized recommended ad model, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 illustrates example input parameters, defining the user's goals,which can be used to generate the optimized recommended ad model.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Broadly speaking, the embodiments of the present invention providesystems and methods for enabling brand centric presentation, management,and interaction with media related to particular brands. Each particularbrand is managed at and by a single brand site (referred to herein alsoas “brand universe” and “brand world”), that collects brand centricdata, news, information, services, products, current events, userinteractivity, etc., from disparate channels (other sites), and blendsthem together into the single brand site. The content obtained fromother channels will represent an instance of the content, as thatcontent can exist in both the other sites and on the brand site. Thus,updates at the brand site or at the originating sites will populate sothat the best most current information is maintained in relation to abrand site.

Brand universe is a system that is designed to serve passionate fans ofspecific entertainment brands by providing them a single and immersiveplace to “hang out” together online. Brand universe is designed to meeta fan's emotional need for a connection with a brand in addition tofilling a functional need for information or services. As these needsare filled, a unified interface to the brand is provided, which assistsin deepening and strengthening relations with existing fans of the brandand also assist in introducing a unified brand view to new consumers.These new customers, by virtue of the dynamic experience, will beconverted into fans of the brand. As users (e.g., fans) interact withthe unified brand site(s), user interactivity can be tracked to developmetrics regarding uses, likes, dislikes, interactions, and commercialbenefits to supporters of the brand (e.g., advertisers). This trackingof consumer/brand transactions will enable functional reporting of thesemetrics. These metrics can then be used by marketers of products relatedto the brand, to determine likelihood of success and revenue generationif products or services are marketed on particular brand sites.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Itwill be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process operations have not beendescribed in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the presentinvention. Several exemplary embodiments of the invention will now bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The following description will be broken down into four parts, namely, aSystem and Functional Overview in (I), a System Management, ContentSharing and Content Contribution description in (II), Cross-Market BrandAd Placement and Optimization in (III) and a Brand Site Product andComputer-implemented Structure in (IV).

I. The Brand Universe System and Functional Overview

In one embodiment, a notion of brand universe is that it powers theplace where users spend time between the major transactional events uponwhich their brand relationship is based. Thus it “fills in the gaps” intheir relationship with the brand. This can be illustrated in FIG. 1,which defines a graph 100. Graph 100 defines release events 102 fordifferent products of the brand, or services or media related to aparticular brand. Consumer interest without brand universe support wouldbe defined by plot 104, where consumer interest wanes between peaks,defined by the release events 102. Consumer interest with brand universesupport is defined by plot 106, where consumer interest is smoothed outmore, supporting those times between release events 106.

Thus, by providing a unified and dynamic brand site where fans can hangout online, brand universe smoothes the levels of consumer attentionpaid to a brand between release events 106 (e.g., transactional events),allowing a “base” level of attention that is higher than the existingstate, as well as an ongoing means of communication regarding new brandrelated transactional opportunities, including micro-transactionopportunities that otherwise could not be effectively marketed. Forexample, the brand universe site can provide fans of Shrek™ with theability to download a new Shrek™ 3 theme for their desktop. As astandalone feature, this type of transaction could not be efficientlymarketed using television, outdoor, print, or radio, but could easilyand efficiently be promoted to fans connected to Shrek™ through thebrand universe site. In one embodiment, brand sites are defined fromstitched together community features from across different contentsites. By way of example, the content sites may be the sites created andmanaged by Yahoo, Inc.™ (e.g., Answers™, BIX, Flickr™, News, Forums,etc.). Other content can come from communities, news, feeds, etc., wheresuch content is presently scattered among disparate sites and networkedsources. Of course, the content can come from other sites not managed byYahoo, Inc™.

In one embodiment, as brand universe places primacy first and foremoston the interest of the fan, the experience is always context-orientedversus category or function oriented. The brand is at the center and“build out” an experience around that brand. This is illustrated in FIG.2, that defines a context diagram 120 for a brand 122. For each brandsite or world, the context diagram 120 defines the various layers ofabstraction, which all point to the brand 122. In this example, thelayers include, without limitation and without restriction to ordering:(1) advertising and promotion; (2) user generated content; (3) thirdparty content; (4) Yahoo! content; (5) official content of the brand;(6) brand content 122. For each brand site, associated with each brand,the layers of abstraction for context are applied. As shown, four brands124 are illustrated, for which a brand site world is created. Brand siteworlds are shown for: (a) a television show “LOST™” 124 a, (b) actor“Will Smith” 124 b; (c) “Nintendo Gaming™” 124 c; and (d) the character“Shrek™” 124 d.

Using the model of context diagram 120, it can be shown that an infinitevariety of content and services may be built up around a core brand.However, in accordance with one embodiment, it is a goal to have theexperience oriented around the subject brand versus the individualelements or other brands. This focus enables the brand site to “maintainan illusion” that the consumer is interacting with their brand, ratherthan utilizing a bunch of generic functions. For example, wherecompromises have to be made to test a new technology or to make anintegration commitment, they should be made carefully and with a clearpath to complete brand integration.

Major brands (e.g., products and/or services) have multiplemanifestations in multiple media categories, and precise knowledge ofthese instances and their relationship to the brand world site (and toeach other) is essential. For instance, it is not enough to know thatBrand X has video games, a TV show, trading cards; but it is alsoessential to know each specific SKU, episode, card series, etc. Thisspecific knowledge is preferred because it provides the basis upon whichto track user interest and to drive transactions. This information alsoprovides the mechanism where users can be made aware of additional brandrelated-content and services (i.e., Shrek™ 3 the movie is the entrypoint, but Shrek™ the brand site, incorporates the movie, the games, themerchandise, the videos, the mash ups, etc. and the Shrek™ community).

Thus, all accessible instances of the brand “roll up” (i.e., connect) tothe “brand site”, but the brand site is larger than the sum of itsparts, as it offers the opportunity for fans to go beyond the tangiblemanifestations to the idealized, theoretical “essence” of the brand. Forinstance, Nintendo's™ “Mario™”, shown as a brand site 124 c of FIG. 2,may exist in many specific games, but the idea of Mario™ is bigger thanany single game or group of games, and in fact has its own uniquequalities in the mind of individual fans. The Brand universe system isworking at its very best when it offer experiences and tools that allowfans to transcend the specific and move into the idealized or expandedconcept of the brand via interaction with the system and with eachother.

Because brand universe is configured to function 24/7, and with orwithout the help of the brand owner, the system is designed to generatea steady stream of high quality fan content. This stream, fed by thepassion and creativity of the fan base, is one facet which “fills in thegaps” between traditional fan/brand transactions. As a result, fancontent must not be treated as an afterthought of throwaway add on, butinstead as the “star of the show”. Therefore careful thought andattention is given to the “pull” components which generate the contentand the “push” components which identify the best, and subsequentlypromote that content, both within the Yahoo™ Inc. environment andoutside, via portable representations and viral components.

Specific reference is made to Yahoo's™ content, but it should beunderstood that the content can be managed by other entities, such asmedia companies, Internet companies, combinations of media and internetcompanies, and the like. Thus, although the brand universe system makesuse of the media content already managed by sites within Yahoo™ Inc.,these content sites should be viewed only as exemplary, as the systemcan well function when supported by other entities.

In one embodiment, it is important to have a correct sense of scale whenpulling content from fans. To manage this, certain levels of interactionat the “instance” level are provided. For instance, the system willprovide one set of interactions at Star Wars™ Episode 1™ HD-DVD; anotherfor Star Wars™, Episode 1™; another for Star Wars™, the OriginalTrilogy™; another for Star Wars™, and another for Lucas Film™, andanother for Chewbacca™ or Hans Solo™. Thus, the brand universe system isdesigned to precisely invoke fan content when it is most effective tothe overall brand site. Effectiveness can be monitored based on userinteraction or can be judged based on past performance on individualsites or on other brand sites.

Most interfaces around entertainment media objects throw an incrediblenumber of choices at the user, usually in the form of countless tabs,links and promo boxes. A brand world site defined by the Brand universesystem offers a simpler approach. Each interaction is carefullyoptimized to deliver the best possible user experience given what isknown about the users needs, eliminating extraneous information andnavigation in the process. At every step of the way, the brand universesystem offers a “best guess” at the consumer's next need and makes thatbest guess obvious and inviting to the user via a large, highly visiblepromotion. By narrowing the “next step” invitation in this way, moretime and effort is placed on this spot on the site. The brand universesystem will therefore enable testing and tracking to fully understandthe relationship between an offer and its context, in terms ofgenerating user response.

In one embodiment, the interfaces provided by the brand universe systemtake the users' previous visits into account and will generate anappropriate reaction. Thus, the same content is not blindly promoted tothe user and instead, by looking at what the user has already done andwhat has happened since they last visited, a best guess promotion isplaced in front of them, to thus promote what they will want to do next.These are informed, personal guess—not just a list of most popular ormost recent items, or items that strike the fancy of a human editor. Thebest guess promotion can be incorporated into each page of the brandsite, not just top level pages, thus providing a full and richinteractive experience to the fan of the brand.

In one aspect of the system, the scale of promotion is responsive toindividual tastes and visit histories. To fully customize theexperience, the brand universe system defines creative page placement ofcontent, which is auto generated. Promotional auto generation happensnaturally through the addition of content, through the identification ofcontent as particularly good or relevant, or in response to a marketingspend. The promotional engine is automated—creating units and placementson-the-fly as new material becomes available. The system also drives theinclusion of a specific sampling component that puts its own assumptionsand biases to the test—giving new material a chance to be successful in“limited release”—and aids in early detection against new consumertrends.

The promotional system of brand universe is configured in an automatedmanner, but the system will enable human “overrides”. Human overridesare important, as the system can grow and change in an automatic manner,as content data changes. However, promotion data can be added, changed,tracked and optimized continuously (e.g., daily, real-time, etc.). Thepromotion data can be provided by brand owners, brand fans, advertisersthat see a possible link between their products or services and thebrand or the brand's demographics.

The brand universe system, by its created brand sites can expose usersto new brands that they might be interested in, but might have forgottenor not known about in the first place. The brand universe system isconfigured to do this naturally and on demand in response topartnerships with brand owners who want to create a higher level ofvisibility for their brands by “injecting” them into the system.

In one embodiment, and as a result, most promotional areas can contain amix of paid and non paid (i.e. best guess) promotion, though neitherwill be necessarily marked as such, particularly where endemic brandsare concerned. One aspect of particular benefit to the brand site(generated by the Brand universe system) is that the mix between paidand non-paid placement is substantially balanced at all times. The useron a brand site should not notice or think anything is “wrong” (orforced on them) when an endemic brand is promoted for revenue relatedreasons. Thus, the integrate is natural, seamless, and more effectivethan simply placing a disjointed ad in front of a user. In oneembodiment, all paid, endemic, non-media brand promotion in these mixedareas will keep users within the site, versus sending users to othersites (i.e. the user does not click on something that looks like aninternal link and end up on an external site).

In one aspect of the invention, the brand universe system, forparticular brand sites, can encompasses all entertainment brands and subbrands. From a promotional point of view, all brands are not createdequal. Some will appeal disproportionately to certain segments ofsociety, and where those segments are desired the Brand universe systemplaces special automated emphasis. That is, the brand universe systemself-adjusts to provide content on particular brand sites which bestmesh with the expected demographic. By doing this, a brand universe sitewill be an inviting place to visit for users of the brand and the userscan be best converted into more passionate fans. When users become fans,and the content is provided based on their likes, each brand site canmarket its content to enable maximum usage and maximum opportunities forrevenue generation.

As activity is tracked, it is possible to know with great specificitywhat is hot at any moment in time relating to a given brand, forsubsequent adjustment of a brand site by the brand universe system. Inone embodiment, this information is fed to special programming sites(e.g., Inside Y! programming) so that it always reflects this specificknowledge, versus general promotional categories. For example, ifsomeone types “Scarlett Johannson”, the return should be the best optionat that moment—i.e. “Scarlett Johannson in red at the Oscars™”—versusthe generic “images, news, videos, etc.” The search result should havethe energy and the vitality of the moment vs. the dead feel of areference book, so that the most relevant and up to the minute result ispresented. This functionality, again, will turn users of the brand intofans.

Programming by the brand universe system takes time of day into account.The time of day should subtlety permeate the interface as well as theprogramming choices that are made. For example, after school,kid-friendly brands are emphasized while as the night goes on, brandswith a mature nature may be more freely promoted.

Users influence the material programmed to them by implicit and explicitactivity. The brand universe system offers users a chance to identifythemselves as a “fan” of whatever they are looking at, be it a brand, aninstance, or another user. In one embodiment, once they declarethemselves as a fan of something, content deriving from that thingshould “bubble up” to the top of their experience within the brand site.

As has already been mentioned, the brand universe system also trackswhere a user goes and intelligently uses that information to makeprogramming choices. For instance, a user that regularly uses moviesResident Evil™, Silent Hill™, and Alone in the Dark™ is clearly a fan ofsurvival horror, so when a new franchise in this genre is created, thesystem will let him know. Knowledge of the user lets the system useprogramming to “sow seeds on fertile ground” connecting users torelevant brands rather than relying on sheer volume and brute force.

The mix of explicit and implicit inputs is designed to create asituation where a user is constantly surrounded by brands—some trustyold favorites, some of the hot new passions of the day, and others justcoming up on the horizon; all moving together in orbit around the userto create a dynamic and totally personalized experience, as illustratedbelow.

The brand universe system provides several reporting concepts, inaccordance with one embodiment. For example, brand level reporting isprovided. The fundamental level of reporting is at the user/brand level.In one embodiment, every single discreet user interaction with a brandis recorded. These include but are not limited to: Visit, Pagesviewed/editorial content consumed, Video streamed/uploaded, Files(image, flash, mp3, other) downloaded/uploaded, Prices checked,Contributions, answers, ratings, reviews, comments, postings, searches,etc. In a further aspect, the demographic profile of the user accrues tothe brand during any interaction, thus creating a dynamic demo profilefor each brand and for each interaction.

In still another embodiment, all activity needs to be viewed at thesmallest instance level. For example, at the instance level of the DVDfor Lord of the Rings™, which SKU (DVD Entity) generated the mostactivity, and within that SKU the content that generated the mostactivity with each segment, etc. For instance, I should know that inLord of the Rings™: The Fellowship of the Ring area, males ages 18-22are a particularly hot segment, but where fan art around that concept isconcerned, the target age drops to 14-16. This data feeds our contentacquisition engine. This also tells us what our “best offer” is at theinstance and Inside Y! level.

In one embodiment, the brand universe system is configured tosystematically identify up and coming brands. There are three ways inwhich this is done. First, whenever a new brand or instance of a brandis announced, the brand is tracked, months or even years ahead of itsrelease. In this manner, it is known from the beginning and throughoutthe development cycle, how it is stacking up relative to other brands.Second, the programming system is continually sampling new items. Anymajor blips in activity, increased sampling, and pending sustainedresponse may trigger an alert system. Thirdly, wherever possible, searchmust be mapped into the brand world so that it is possible to knowexactly what users are looking for.

In one embodiment, all brand activity must be totally transparent in arelevant manner to each constituency of the ecosystem. Consumers see theimpact of brand activity in places such as top 10 lists, and in theprogramming they receive. Brand owners see the activity through widgetsand real time reports that let them know how their products or servicesare positively impacted by the brand site. Other interested parties,such as retailers, analysts, licensees, etc. see their own version ofthe data.

The content creator (whether user or brand owner) may opt to buy, at thetime of upload, a promotional package that will increase the visibilityof their content. They may also do this in a systematic way by strikinga larger relationship with the ad sales team which would “build in”promotion for a certain number of their assets, whenever they areavailable. Furthermore, a real-time reporting system will enhance thesense of excitement by demonstrating usage of the asset as it occurs,and providing a sense of the immediate impact of pulling a promotionallever.

The brand universe system 130 is, in part, built from instance levels asshown in FIG. 3A. In accordance with one embodiment, the instance levels134 are accessed for their content and fed to a brand level 132, thatdefines a brand site for Shrek™ 124 d, as noted in FIG. 2.

Specific instance levels 134, already having brand content, can betapped to define a richer and more immediate experience at the brandsite. The instance levels are also referred to as “verticals”. Theverticals are, on their own, separate websites that target a type ofmedia. The type of media may be movies, games, etc, as noted in detailbelow. These separate websites therefore contain content for more thanone brand, so long as the content is somewhat related to the media type.The brand content present on the separate websites, will therefore bereferred to as instances, and such instances (i.e., brand content) canbe shared with particular brand sites. The instances of the brandcontent, in one embodiment, will be present on both the separate websiteand on the brand sites, and any change to either one, may besynchronized.

The verticals should offer a best-on-the-internet experience around anyparticular instance of the Brand. If a user comes to Y! Movies 136looking for info on Shrek™ 3, then the user will find it there, just asthe will for Shrek™ Video Games within Y! Games 140. However, fromeither of these specific instances, the user may be invited to step intoa Shrek™ “World” (e.g., the brand level 132) where Shrek™ is representedacross instances. Once a user has taken a step out of the vertical(instance level 132) and into the world (brand level 132), allsubsequent activity takes place within the world context, vs. thevertical (though the information is the same in both). Other illustratedverticals include Y! Celeb 138, Y! Games™ 140, Y! Kids™ 142, etc. Again,although the verticals are those provided by Yahoo Inc., the verticalscan be provided by any media company or individual. In one embodiment,where a brand exists in a single category, then the “world” becomes thepage within the vertical for that Brand. Still with this example, the TVshow “Heroes™” only exists within Y! TV™, until such time as it branchesout into other brands like video games, toys, etc.

In one embodiment and with reference to FIG. 3A, each instance of Shrek™as represented in the verticals is “aware” that it is a part of thelarger “Shrek™” concept, and thus, when a promotion occurs that isrelated to Shrek™ it can instantly populate across all related pages onall verticals with one command. This aspect is beneficial to promoting“micro” events because it touches every consumer that makes sense withminimal programming effort.

Beyond standard use cases, the brand universe system is designed to addan emotional edge. For instance: (1) Fan has five minutes to spend, whathave we got? (2) Fan wants to extend that kick he gets from his favoritecharacter on his favorite show, how does he do it? (3) Fan wants to be“on the inside” and “first” to see that new trailer, how do we make ithappen? (4) Fans wants to “hang out” and relax with other fans, how dowe enable it? (5) Fan wants to be recognized as a top notch fan, etc.(6) Fans want to make their brand a simultaneous communal experience,how can we make this happen? (7) Fans want to create their own ending toa movie, etc. Thus, the brand universe system meets a fan's emotionalneed and defines a connection with the brand, in addition to afunctional need for information or services.

Still further, the brand universe system is configured withfunctionality to identify and recognize key brand site contributors.This feature is facilitated by providing greater access to tools andcontrol over content on site, and by providing identifiers that set themapart from other members of the community. For example, being a “Level10” member of the community or a “Lead Editor” of a show or a “#1 fan”of a particular brand. This leveling should reflect both explicit andimplicit contributions to the site. The brand universe system alsoallows third-parties to log in and directly publish content to the site.Security is provided to ensure the right level of access is granted tothe right user.

II. System Management, Content Sharing and Content Contribution

FIG. 3B illustrates a brand universe system that feeds from disparatecontent providers, which also contain and manage content related to thespecific brand. The specific brand is illustrated by brand/user data 158cell at the center of the brand universe. One level of farming forcontent (related to each brand) may occur from instance levels (e.g.,verticals), that in this example, are managed by Yahoo™ Inc. Of course,other separate websites, managed by other entities will work. Examplesinclude: (A) user generated content (UGC), such as Flickr™ data,del.icio.us, Yahoo360™, etc.; (B) Yahoo tools and Services, such asYahoo Messenger™, Yahoo Search™; (C) Monetization, such as YahooShopping™, Advertising, and Premium Services; (D) Content, such as YahooNews™, 3^(rd) Party Content (e.g., current event data, RSS feeds), YahooEntertainment™, etc. This list was provided to give an overall flavor ofthe various data content sources and their function, and should not berestrictive, as they were provided for example purposes only.

Example brand sites are shown in FIG. 3B, namely television shows“LOST™” or “American Idol™” 124 a, (b) celebrities “Tom Cruise™” and“Paris Hilton™” 124 e; (c) “Nintendo Gaming™” 124 c; (d) the moviecharacter “Shrek™” 124 d; (e) Action Heroes™ 124 b, etc. These brandsites, as noted above, will also feed in brand content data from thevarious vertical sites (e.g., to obtain brand content instances (levels134)). Example vertical sites may include, Movies™ 136, Celebs 138, TV139, Games 140, etc. The brand sites, although they will share contentwith verticals, the brand site will provide a more complete brand world,as the brand sites pull (roll up) data from the various instance levels,while also integrating user data, user generated content, brand-centricuser experiences, brand-related chat, brand merchandising, etc., todefine the brand/user data 158 experience.

FIG. 4 illustrates a system diagram 160, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. System diagram 160 illustrates abrand site 124 that includes a number of components that make up thebrand site 124, when implemented in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention. The brand site 124 is for Brand X, and the brandsite is organized, in one embodiment, to include a plurality of modules.The plurality of modules are shown as module A, module B, . . . moduleN. In one embodiment, module definition and programming will simplifytheir integration into the brand site, so that APIs and pluggabilityenable fast and efficient publication and edits of new content,submission of new content, and overall management of the brand sitecontent. In addition to the modules, the brand site 124 may include anumber of other feathers such as advertisements 202 a, user generatedcontent 202 b, and other images, icons, menus, or interactive features,in addition to text 204.

The various components provided around the modules of the brand site 124are designed to seamlessly blend into the presented content that isbrand-specific and targeted to the specific demographic for the givenbrand being rendered at the brand site 124. The brand site 124 isaccessed by users 161 over the internet, and users 161 will be able toaccess the brand site 124 from any number of connected devices. Theconnected devices can include desktop computers, laptops, mobiledevices, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and any otherdevice that is capable of accessing the content provided by the brandsite 124. The various users 161 access brand site X at theirconvenience, and may also personalize their brand X site for theirenjoyment or normal use habits.

In one embodiment, brand X site is also provided with a log-in module toenable a user to login with a user name and password to then access themodules of brand X, in a user defined presentation, that is mostpreferable to the specific user. Accordingly, the brand site 124 notonly provides the dynamic information in a pre-defined format, but theformat can also be rearranged and prioritized depending on thepreferences of the specific users that may log into the brand site 124.Depending on user interactivity with the brand site 124 and thedifferent modules of the brand site, the system 160 is configured toprovide interactivity monitoring 172, that saves data regarding themonitoring to the metrics analysis 174 module.

The interactivity monitoring 172 is configured to monitor specificuser's activity on the brand site 124 to capture preferences, userdemographics, most frequently used content, identify when user generatedcontent is supplied by the users, and navigational activity within thebrand site 124. All of these metrics are provided to various componentsof the system 160. The system 160 is shown to provide access to themetrics analysis 174 to users 175. Users may access the metrics directlythrough the brand site 124 by way of displays that indicate popularityof specific modules, components within the modules, or recently vieweddata by other users 161.

Additionally, metrics analysis may be provided for specific contentparts managed by the brand owners 176. In this manner, metrics can beprovided in a more granular manner, so that very specific brand contentcan be individually monitored, tracked, updated, changed, or eliminated,based on one or more decision factors. Such factors may be due tobusiness reasons or user satisfaction or user dissatisfaction.

The brand owners noticing specific activity on the brand site 124, mayfind a need to develop additional modules for the brand site 124, modifythe products or services rendered by the brand site 124, or introducenew promotions for the brand products or services. The brand ownerswould therefore get a substantially real-time view into the popularityof their specific brand, and could provide a viewpoint into desiredfunctionality, or desired services that may be missing on the brand site124, to thus provide additional monetization to the brand owner 176(e.g., by selling (i.e., through e-commerce or non-ecommerce traditionalstore transactions) brand content services or products, or services orproducts advertised on the brand site). The metrics analysis 174 is alsoshown available to advertisers 178. Advertisers 178 desiring to injecttheir content into a particular brand site 124 would be provided withmetrics that identify the popularity of the brand and other relatedadvertising services or products.

For instance, if soft drinks are being advertised in a seamless mannerin one of the modules of the particular brand site that relate tosports, other drink type advertisers may see an advantage to alsoproviding similar seamless-type advertising modules for the given brandsite. The metrics could also provide data regarding access by users,susceptibility of users to access the specific advertisements, revenuegenerated by previous advertisers, and other metrics similarly usable byadvertising companies. The system 160 could also provide access to brandsite producers 180. The brand site producers 180 are individuals thatmanage the structure parts of the brand site 124, certain placement ofmodules within the brand site 124 (if promotion packages are paid), theorganization of data, and the feed of some data in and out of the brandsite 124.

By providing brand site producers access to metrics analysis 174, it ispossible for the brand site producers to more fully understand the useand interactivity being experienced by users, and could also provideinsights into improvements to further integrated the modules of thebrand site 124 in a more seamless, or interactive manner. The metricsanalysis 174 is also shown providing information to a brand sitepromotion logic block 175. Brand site promotion logic 175 is designed tointelligently read the metrics analysis 174, apply rules to improvepromotions of specific items within the brand site 124, and in anautomated manner, promote certain content within the brand site 124 to amore prominent role, or demote certain content either to less prominentroles. Additionally, the complete removal from the brand site may occur,depending on the user interactivity, and other metric analysis performedon the usefulness of the brand site 124.

Continuing with FIG. 4, the system 160 is also shown to include a block162 that defines module relations and sharing with vertical contentsites. Module 162 is designed to feed the brand site 124 with specificmodules that may be obtained or shared with vertical sites 134′. Asnoted above, vertical sites may include other separate sites that sharethe content found on the brand site 124, and any changes made in eitherthe brand site 124 or the vertical sites 134′ may be seamlesslyintegrated and synchronized in relation to the features being shared. Ablock 164 is also shown providing user generated content (UGC). Usergenerated content is that which is produced by users 161 and uploaded tothe brand site 124. The user generated content may be simple feedbackinformation provided by forms, menus, ratings, or actual interactivecontent (videos, pictures, data) produced by users and submitted forpublication into the brand site 124.

Block 166 shows content and meta-data feeds that are also provided tothe brand site 124. The content can include content found from thirdparties, such as user organizations, meta-data regarding those differentpieces of content, and the like. By providing block 166 as an input tothe brand site 124, the brand site 124 will appear to be receiving themost up-to-date information regarding the brand X. Block 168 providesbrand related content owners access to portions of the brand site 124.Brand related content owners may be those which provide content that isnot specifically about the brand, but is very related to the brand andthus can be provided to the brand site 124 for tight integration.

As will be shown in FIG. 9, a brand-related content owner 168 may be theowner of the ringtones shown in the bottom right hand corner of screen900. Although the brand owner (or persona-subject) in screen shot 900 ofFIG. 9 is Will Smith™, the ringtones are not necessarily owned by WillSmith™, but they are considered brand-related content, and it is ownedby specific companies that would like to provide such content to WillSmith's™ brand site 900. Next, is a brand site producer tool 170 blockthat provides brand site producers access to the brand site 124 toperform modifications, updates, retooling, and any other adjustments orupdates that may be necessary in view of its structure, content, ororganization.

FIG. 5A illustrates a system view diagram 160′ for the brand universesystem, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Thesystem view diagram 160′ defines an entertainment content repository(ECR) 240 for holding data related to various brand sites. The ECR 240will therefore store in a plurality of databases information regardingdifferent brands, assets, relationships, meta-data, and otherinformation that will link specific brand sites to the variouscomponents for obtaining the content and for presenting the content tousers. In this example, the ECR 240 is shown interfaced with services220.

Services 220 are shown to include, in this example, personalization 222,promotions 224, services interfaces 226, advertising 228, analytics 230,and Yahoo™ network services 232. These services 220 therefore providethe ECR 240 with access to brand-centric experiences in vertical worldsdefined in an instance level 134. As noted above, the instance level 134can include various sites that hold data regarding the specific brandsite being created, managed and interfaced to the ECR 240. In theexample shown, vertical sites include Yahoo games 140, Yahoo movies 136,Yahoo TV 139, Yahoo kids 142, Yahoo celebs 138, etc. The resultingexample brand site 124 d is the brand universe site for Shrek™, in thisexample.

The world for Shrek™ shown by the brand site 124 d is the brand level132, as previously discussed with reference to FIG. 3A. The brand site124 is also illustrated by an icon in the ECR, as the brand site 124stores information regarding the brand site 124 d, as well as brandcontent instances 142, 138, which may be obtained from differentvertical sites, mentioned above. Data related to different brand sites124 a, 124 b, are also similarly stored in the ECR 240, for access bythe various processing engines of the brand site universe system 160′,in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

The ECR 240 is also shown to receive content 252 from various thirdparty data feeds 254. The third party data feeds 254 can provideinformation such as TV guide information, gaming information, movieinformation, and thus populate that information to the ECR 240 as itrelates to the specific brand sites with the ECR 240. The content 252is, as noted above, added and managed by producer tools 242. Theproducer tools 242 can be managed by brand site producers 244. The brandsite producers 244 may be charged with the organization, orientation,content, and placement of the various modules within specific worlds(brand sites). Interfacing with the ECR 240 is an internal recordingblock 250 and a partner dashboard 248.

Partner users and brand site managers 246 can therefore gain access tothe various components and interfaces that communicate with the ECR 240.For instance, a partner dashboard 248 (e.g., user interface that is useraccessible over the web) will allow advertisers or owners of specificbrands marketed, displayed, or highlighted by brand sites to view theperformance of brand sites, the various modules on those brand sites, orcontent on the specific brands based on user interactivity with thesite. Internal reporting 250 will also allow brand site managers to makeadjustments to the brand sites, depending on the performance asmonitored by user interactivity, feedback and other metrics.

FIG. 5B illustrates a brand universe system 300, defining additionalaspects of content acquisition, content management, reporting, andpresentation for brand sites, in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention. The entertainment content repository (ECR) 240 isshown receiving data from various components. One component is contentand meta-data feeds 254′. The content and meta-data feeds may includeuser feeds and other data that is then forwarded to a harvester 302. Theharvester 302 is configured to obtain the data from variouscommunication data source connections (e.g., HTTP, FTP, and othercommunication protocols ports, formats, and links) and forward that datato a data processing block 304.

The data processing block 304 will identify the different types of datasuch as text data, image data, meta-data, video data, and other types ofdata so that data can be properly forwarded to a data import block 306.Data import block 306 is configured to forward and map the differentpieces of data with appropriate identifiers, tags, and meta-data to thedatabases of the entertainment content repository 240. The ECR 240 isalso interfaced with framework 326 that is coupled to API blocks 328.Example API blocks 328 are shown to include, in this embodiment, movieAPI 330, games API 332, TV API 334, and brand API 336. These APIs areconfigured to provide access to the different vertical instances (on theseparate websites) where components of the brand are shared and obtainedbetween the vertical sites and the brand sites managed by the branduniverse system 300.

In this example, front end 340 is provided to enable users to gainaccess to the different vertical sites, such as the movies front end342, the TV front end 344, the games front end 346, and the variousworlds front ends 348 (brand sites). As illustrated, brand sites 124 areaccessed through the worlds front end 348 that then provide requests tothe API blocks 328, and data is provided to the front end 348 fordisplay and rendering on a display screen of the various users. The APIblock 328 may also provide a search request to the ECR 240 through asearch block 241 to render search results data back to the usersinterfacing with the brand sites or the various vertical sitesassociated with front ends 342, 344, or 346. The search block 241 is asearch index that is re-populated on a regular basis via a data export239 from the ECR 240. API block 328 then hits the Search block 241 withsearch requests.

The front end 340 is also shown coupled to other Yahoo domain services350 that can provide additional data and information to the brand sites124. The users 360 will therefore interface with the screens provided bythe front end 340, to cause interactive use of the various brand sites.As users 360 interface with the different brand sites, the interfacingand interactivity with the brand sites and its content are monitored. Areporting/business analytics module 248 a-2 is provided to monitor theactivity of the various brand sites as used by user 360.

The reporting/business analytics module 248 a-2 is internal processing(e.g., to the operator of the brand sites), and such information that isalso used by the producers of the brands sites to improve the quality ofthe experience for the users (i.e., that are becoming fans) of thebrands, and also make adjustments based on this information. Thereporting/business analytics module 248 a-2 also provides an automateddata feed to the recommendations block 324 a. This recommendations block324 a is a recommendations algorithm/system that interfaces with thefront end 340. The reporting/business analytics 248 a-2 is part of theinternal reporting 250, as discussed in reference to FIG. 5A. Thereporting/business analytics module 248 b can be a separate system orintegrated system, that takes user interaction data and ECR 240 data asinputs, and outputs recommendations based on user data. In oneembodiment, the system can be an integrated platform tool or a thirdparty tools that interfaces with the brand universe system 300. Thepartner dashboard 248 includes content reporting and submission 248 a-1.

The content reporting block 248 a-1 is a read-only interface for brandowners 380 in to the reporting/business analytics module 248 b. Thecontent submission block 248 a-1 is an interface where content (images,videos, etc.) and data may be submitted by content or brand owners 380to the ECR 240. The functionality of content submission is, in oneembodiment, geared to drive the content promotion service 322. Brandsite producers 244 can view, edit, or approve any submissions made bythe content or brand owners 380 in the content submission block 248 a-2.Once approved (or it can automatically be approved depending on thebrand owner 380), the content can be automatically promoted by thecontent promotion service 322. As used herein, “promoting content” meansthat the content takes on a more visible position on the interfacepages, so that more user traffic migrates toward the promoted content.

Moderation tools 370 are provided to enable the content or brand owners380 and the brand site producers 244 to moderate the type of contentposted as user generated content (UGC). If the user generated content oruser feedback is posted on the brand site, and such content is offensiveor destructive toward the brand in any way, as judged by the brandowners or brand site producers, then that data can be removed oradjusted.

In addition to recommendations 324 a, other modules with processinglogic that provide functionality include user profiling services 324 b(e.g., “a user's recently viewed content (e.g., such as movies, games,TV shows, video clips, photos, etc.)”, “most viewed/most popular contenton a site, in the last hour, 24 hours, week, month, all-time”, “mostviewed/most popular content by audience segment (i.e. what movies arepopular for 18-24 year old females)”, “ad targeting based on a user'sinterest profile generated from what they view over time”), ratings andreviews 324 c, message boards 324 d, user generated content (UGC) 324 e,Flickr™ and other services 324 f. In one example, the moderation tools370 can be used to moderate content submitted through 324 b-324 f. Theseservices 324 are provided to manage, submit or present data, interactivemenus, graphics, and other information that may be fed back to specificbrand sites in the form of modules, content data, or supportinginformation for the modules for presentation on the brand sites. Thebrand sites will therefore be able to interface directly with richcontent information that is up-to-date, provides user involvement, andenables further blending of the brand with the user's experience toassist in converting users into fans of a brand site.

Producer tools 242 are also provided to enable brand site producers 244to interact with the content in the ECR 240. The producer tools 242include a page programming tool (PPT) 242 b, and a content programmingtool (CPT) 242 a that is interactively coupled to the ECR 240. The toolsof 242 a and 242 b are provided in the form of interactive programs andforms that enable brand site producers 244 to properly manage theirbrand content as it is presented to the ECR, for then publication on thebrand sites 124, when users 360 access the worlds front end 348. Acontent promotion service 322 is also provided and is shown receivingdata from the ECR 240, and then interfaced with the front end 340 toprovide the brand sites 124 with instant content promotion services, sothat when users 360 are viewing the brand sites, certain content can behighlighted.

The highlighted content can be promotional information that is eitherpaid for by advertisers in the brand sites, or can be promoted to ahigher prominence on the page if users desire more functionality fromspecific components and modules of the brand site. These and otherfunctionalities are provided by the brand universe system 300, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5C illustrates a bi-directional relationships diagram 400 thatdefines how specific data pieces are interconnected to a specific brandto define modules or parts of modules of a brand site, based oninformation obtained from other sources. The bi-directionalrelationships diagram 400 is also referred to as web relationships thatrelates specific pieces of the web in terms of “degrees of separation”.The graph therefore does not define a hierarchy with respect tocomponents, but simply their inter-relationships. The various componentsthat are interrelated and illustrated by the bi-directionalrelationships diagram 400 include entities identified by “E”, and assetsidentified by “A”. The brand (of the brand site) is identified as “B”.

An asset is a piece of content that can be consumed such as photos,videos, new articles, and any other content that may relate to anentity. An entity is a specific person or thing that relates to thebrand, and may also be related to other entities. For instance, theSuperman™ TV show entity can be related to both the Superman entityseason 1 and the Superman entity season 2. The Superman™ season 1 entitycan also be related to other episode entities. Certain ones of theentities may also include specific assets. An example of an asset isshown as cover art or track information, which may be related toSuperman™ 3 album entity.

Thus, the brand “Superman™” is able to identify its relations tospecific entities, and the specific entities can also be related toother entities, depending on the content of the specific entities. Thebi-directional relationship diagram 400 is shown to illustrate thedynamic web that is formed when a brand site, such as a brand site forSuperman, is linked to the content instances present at other entities,and related to those entities by the relationship graph. As the contentgrows, additional links to other entities and assets can be plugged into the appropriate location on the bi-directional relationship graph400. Accordingly, the web nature of the relationships enables easyinterrelationships to the data so that presentation can be easilyintegrated into the brand sites.

FIG. 5D illustrates a brand reporting structure 500 for an example brandsite 124. Brand site 124 is for Shrek™ 3. As noted, the brand levelreport includes all non-additive uniques and additive page views, timespent, video streams, photo views, metrics related to the brand, etc. Asnoted in the key of FIG. 5D, a square box is a virtual reporting objectthat is a roll-up of additive and non-additive metrics of physicalpages, video clips, and photos associated to the object. The curvebottom box defines a physical page that is related to an entity or abrand. The parallelogram may define a video or a photo asset.

And, the asset can be related to multiple entities. The Shrek™ brand 124is shown to include a number of modules 124-1, 124-2, and 124-3. 124-2is a module-level reporting that includes uniques, module views, clicks,and time spent. Module 124-1 may be regarded as a main module, but themain module may be promoted or demoted, depending on various factors, asnoted above. Module 124-3 may be a blog module that would enable usersto blog (comment) about different aspects of the Shrek™ 3 brand site124.

In this example, Shrek™ 3 the movie entity 136 a, is shown directlyrelated to Shrek™ 3 brand. Shrek™ 3 the movie entity 136 a, includes anentity page 1 which is the main page for the movie entity 136 a. Asset506, which is a video clip 1, is also shown to be part of the movieentity for Shrek™ 3 136 a. In addition, video clip 1 506 is also part ofan asset that relates to the Eddie Murphy contribution entity 502. TheEddie Murphy contribution entity 502 may include a page 1 which is itsmain page, and would provide some uniques, page views, and time spent.The Shrek™ 3 game entity 140 a is also shown related to the Shrek™ 3 TVentity 139 a, which also relates to the Shrek™ 3 brand 124.

The Shrek™ 3 game entity 140 a would include its main page and reviews.A movies entity 504 would include its own front page, and could also berelated to the brand 124. In addition, the Shrek™ 3 movie entity 136 awould also be related to the movies entity 504. Accordingly, anadvantage of the brand universe system is its ability to tap into thecontent of related entities and the assets of those related entities topopulate the brand site in a modular form that dynamically utilizesthose assets when those assets are related and linked to the brand.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example brand site 600, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. Brand site 600 is an example brandsite that incorporates various entities and assets to seamlessly displaythe information on a brand site that links data (or shares an instance)from the various verticals and other content producing entities.

The resulting brand site 600 has a focus, in this example, around thecomputer gaming console brand “Wii™” by Nintendo™.

The brand owner Nintendo™ may or may not participate in the generationof the brand site 600, but brand related information from variousentities, and its assets, will be seamlessly compiled and presented inmodule form into a seamless display that is all brand-centric to createbrand fans. In this example, the highlighted module is a module calledchoose your favorite Nintendo™ character, and allows users to vote 604regarding their selected favorite character. A photos module 606 is alsoprovided to enable users to post their own photos (or view photos ofothers) and share experiences (in a community environment) regarding theWii™ video game console and its applications.

By allowing users to post photographs regarding their experiences withthe Wii™, the site provides a means to engage the users and give themownership regarding the content of the brand site 600. In oneembodiment, a photo capture and tagging application, such as Flickr™ (orother photo sharing and tagging site) may be used by users to captureimages regarding their use of Wii™ products and games and post theirphotos to Flickr™ to enable upload to the Wii™ photos module 606 of FIG.6.

Additionally shown is a module that will enable users to deck out theiravatars 610, and the avatars can be decked out with Wii™-type clothingor styles. The concept of an avatar is a make-believe character that cantake on a persona and be dressed or styled in a certain manner. Theavatar may be owned by a user, and the user may wish to dress the avataror provide the avatar with Wii™-type equipment, clothing, or the like.The module 610 although relates generically to avatars, its integrationinto the brand site 600 is brand-related due to the ability of thedecking out avatars with Wii™-type products and services, and thus, isrelated as an entity and possibly an asset to the brand site 600.

Feature games module 612 also provides a link to a games vertical sitethat feeds 612 (or provides access to an instance of the same brandcontent), into the brand site due to its relationship, and also mayexist at the vertical site at the same time. An advertisement 608 isintegrally placed within the brand site 600 and provides relationship tothe content of the brand site. Advertisement 608 relates to gaming andusers viewing this gaming information on a brand site 600 related to theWii™ gaming console would view the advertisement information withrelevance as opposed to distraction, as is common in other sites thatadvertise unrelated goods and services to the content of a page. Module614 provides Wii™ links around the world.

In this example, module 614 is a dynamic link portal that identifieswebsites that have been tagged as relating to the Wii™ product orservice. For example, a service called delicious (Del.icio.us™) is aprogram site that allows users to tag certain web pages and sites, andthen search the web for web pages and sites that have been tagged withcertain tag identifiers. In this manner, a user can access a number ofrelated sites that are tagged with information that define their contentor part of their content, as related to the brand site 600.

Additionally shown is module 616 that provides answers to questionsposted by users regarding the Wii™ product and services. Thus, themodule for answers with entries related to the Wii™ product are alsomade and included into the brand site 600. The brand site 600 alsoincludes a navigation bar 602, for example, which allows users tonavigate to other pages within the brand site 600 to further focus onother categories of the same brand, as represented by different pages,which are also built by modules and advertisements which all relate tothe same brand information, or provide additional characteristics fordefining aspects of the brand. Examples provided in the navigation bar602 include a home page, a Wii™ info link, a games link, a messageboards link, a videos link, a buyer's guide link, and others.

FIGS. 7A and 7B provide examples of brand sites that are constructed byassembling modules (stacked vertically in this example), that can beplaced at various levels within the brand site and moved up (promoted)or moved down (demoted), depending on user interactivity, brand ownerpreferences, or brand site producers. The various modules, as notedabove, can be moved up or down to emphasize their more relevant natureas compared to other modules within the site, and can also be demotedand moved off of the site, depending on their usefulness, interactivitymetrics, and other measuring criteria.

When advertising modules are integrated into the brand site, such asadvertising module 710, the module is represented in seamless mannerwith other content information, so as to make the advertisinginformation blend seamlessly with the content, and so as to not obscurethe experience for fans of a particular brand site. The modules are alsorepresented in a form that provides an entertainment value to the userof the brand site, such as by providing video clips, recent activitiesthat may relate to user questions, postings, allowing users to vote inregard to their preferences, and other information.

In one embodiment, module 714 may provide a lot of user interactivityduring the module's lifetime on the brand site. For those modules thathave high user interactivity, one embodiment would blend inadvertisements in between content so that user sifting through contentwill periodically run into advertisements that blend in with the contentbeing viewed or desired to be viewed by users. In this manner, theadvertisement is presented to the user in a seamless manner that is notan obstruction or distraction to their intended use of the content.Referring to FIG. 7B, a user can be provided with advertisements such asmovie trailer 740, which blend and appear to be just another module ofthe site.

The brand site of FIG. 7B is for transformers, and the transformers canhave various types of content that allow user interactivity to furtherconnect with the user's likes, dislikes, and increase their fan levelassociated with the brand.

FIG. 7C illustrates and example of a module 748 from FIG. 7B. In thisexample, this module allows users to rate the various modules that makeup the brand site. As shown, a bar labeled “rate this” allows a user toselect button 762 or button 764 to indicate whether they like or dislikea particular module. If more users dislike than like the module, thenthe module may be demoted over time to a less prominent location on thebrand site. In another embodiment, the module may be removed completelyfrom the brand site in response to users voting the module off the site.

Modules which provide a high level of satisfaction to users, would berated higher and possibly moved up in prominence on the brand site.Thus, module 748 is considered to be an interchangeable and pluggablemodule 770 that is capable of being integrated into the world site andmoved up and down, depending on its prominence, based on userinteractivity.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate examples of a brand site for Shrek™, inaccordance with once embodiment of the present invention. The brand site800 of FIG. 8A illustrates examples of commerce transactions that arepossible through the brand site. A shop icon 802 is provided to enableusers to shop for Shrek™-related products or services. Additionally,sponsorship and advertisements can be provided on the same brand site800 as those sponsorships and advertisements relate directly to thebrand Shrek™.

A viewing of the brand site 800, as it relates to the sponsorships andadvertisements, will illustrate a similarity in the products andservices that relate to Shrek™, and their integration into the brandsite do not detract from its usefulness and user desire to navigatethrough the content provided by the brand site 800.

FIG. 8B illustrates a brand site page that would enable users to connectto a Shrek™ fan club 822. By connecting to the Shrek™ fan club 822,users will join a club that will provide them with additional access tocontent, new releases, and information regarding their brand. Inessence, by providing users with a club-level commitment by the brandsite, the users are converted from basic users and move into a fanlevel, thus increasing their interactivity with the site.

As users grow closer to the interactivity of the site, users are morelikely to purchase products or services related to the brand due totheir “taking ownership of” the brand and committing to its products andservices. As an example, users that may be part of the Shrek™ fan clubcould be provided with additional cell phone 824 content, special webpage content 826, and special access to avatars 828.

FIG. 9 illustrates a brand site 900 for the actor Will Smith™. The actorWill Smith™ 902 is shown in a prominent location on the brand site 900in a module located at the topmost portion of the page. A movies module903 is provided in the brand site to enable access to clips, or moviesin which Will Smith was an actor, and provides a direct relationship tothe brand site 900. Module 904 is geared to provide the latestinformation by the actor to its audience of the brand site. As shown,Will Smith™ logged in to the brand site and provided informationregarding his activities from the set of “I am legend”.

This module provides users with a deep connection to the actor WillSmith and his persona, and his current activities. Another module 906provides a photo gallery of different photographs in which Will Smith™is captured and associated descriptions of the photographs are providedfor Will Smith's™ audience. An album's module 908 is also provided thatprovides links to albums produced by Will Smith or in which Will Smith™had some original contribution for, as it relates to the brand WillSmith™. Along with the modules providing information, and media whichusers may purchase, users are also provided with other modules in whichadvertisers may seamlessly integrate their products and services in auser friendly manner. For instance, module 910 is integrated into thebrand site in close relation to Will Smith's™ movie clips, which makesthe advertisement flow to the user of the brand site.

A module 912 is also provided to enable users to post their questionsrelated to some content or activities or content provided in the brandsite 900. A photos gallery is also provided in module 914, and aringtone and music list is provided in module 916. Module 909 alsoprovides a featured music video that can be played while users visit thebrand site 900. The various modules that make up the brand site 900therefore define the brand universe system's ability to access contentfrom vertical sites (i.e., use or share instances of the brand content)and obtain dynamic data and feeds into the site to make the site appear,and function as an up-to-date portal of information that is composed ofinformation continuously generated and submitted by the brand owners,advertisers, and users.

In still another embodiment, the brand site is more than just a site, asbrand experiences can be distributed through out the internet. As oneexample only, a blogger can add a video module on a blog about the brandor related site. This brand related content is thus integrated with thebrand site.

FIG. 10A illustrates a movie site 136 that can display a number of movieparts 960, that relate to different movies being presented on the moviesite 136. As noted above, this may be a vertical site that targets aparticular media type. Additionally, a user may decide to postadvertising for a specific movie or relate advertisements to a specificmovie on the movie site 136. In this example, the Shrek™ movie content136-1 is shown in the movie site 136. Additionally, an ad posting 952which may have been posted to the movie site, by virtue of advertisingthrough a brand-related posting, will be linked to (or associated with,or placed beside) the specific movie content.

FIG. 10B illustrates a game site 140, where game parts 962 areillustrated, as well as a Shrek game content 140-1. If the user hasselected to advertise for a selected brand, the user's advertisingposting 952 may also be correlated to the Shrek game 140-1, as shown inFIG. 10B. The associating may be by virtue of placing the advertisementbeside the Shrek™ game, or blending the advertisement with portions ofthe Shrek™ game, in between games, in between game levels of a game,etc. Any number of associating techniques may also be used, so long as abrand association occurs when a posting is set to relate to particularadvertisements of specific brand parts (that may be present on thevarious vertical sites).

Additionally, FIG. 10C shows a brand site 124. The brand site 124 mayalso include content parts from the various sites, such as the moviesite 136 and the game site 140. In this example, the Shrek™ game 140-1and the Shrek™ movie 136-1 is part of the brand site 124. Still further,the brand-related advertisement that was posted 952, is also shown inassociation with the component parts of the brand site. For instance, ifthe user desired to post a brand advertisement for the Shrek™ brand site124, that advertisement may also be populated to the various individualwebsites that also contain the Shrek™ content. In one embodiment, theuser may be allowed to select whether to post the advertisement in theentire interconnected web of websites, as well as the brand site, oronly in particular websites and the brand site, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 11A illustrates an advertising management site 950 that has variousoptions to allow advertisers to access site metrics, postadvertisements, manage their advertisements, and relate advertisers tocertain brand elements, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

The advertisement management site 950 shown in FIG. 11A has a brand siteselection 956 region that allows advertisers to select brand sites thatmay be of interest for advertising. In one example, an advertiser mayaccess the advertisement management site 950 and use selector 957 toselect the brand site Shrek. If the advertiser selects the brand siteShrek™ using selector 957, the advertisement management site 950 maydisplay another page as shown in FIG. 11B.

FIG. 11B illustrates a page of the advertising management site 950 wherethe user/advertiser is provided with related site 958 information andadvertisement submission and format 960 features. In one example, therelated site 958 identification will display the various websites thatcontain Shrek™ material. In this example, other websites that maycontain Shrek™ material may include a games website, a movies website,and others. As shown, the user has selected, by checking boxes foradvertisement, advertising in the game site, and the movie site. Beforethe user advertises in these particular websites, the user is alsoprovided with advanced options 959, that allow the user to determineother advertisement options presented by the advertising management site950.

The advanced options may provide information regarding page usage byusers, previous advertisers, rates for advertising, special programs,etc. Of course, any number of other options may also be provided usingthe advanced option feature 959. In one embodiment, the features andoptions are presentable for each particular website or brand site.Further, the user may be allowed to post advertisements using theadvertisement format 960 feature. The user may be prompted to select thetype-format of advertisement that they wish to post.

For instance, the user may be provided with selection menus that willallow the user to identify and select banner types, clip videos,pic-photos, animated ads, and the like. A number of other screens andmenus (not shown) may be provided to allow the user to format and postthe particular advertisement for the specific brand site and websiteshaving brand content.

FIG. 11C illustrates the advertisement management site 950 where a userthat has advertised on the site is provided with information regardingthe advertisement activity. In one example, the user is provided with alisting of sites as well as the brand site 951, where advertising willoccur in relation to their desires to post advertisements for theseparticular websites, as well as the brand site. The user can also beprovided with advertising owner tools 964. The advertising owner tools964 allow the user to see details regarding their postings for thespecific brand site, and the website containing the components of thebrand.

The owner tools 964 may provide additional details, and monitoringmethods that define user activity in relation to their advertisements,and other e-commerce related information. Accordingly, the user (e.g.,ad owner) may be given instantaneous access to determine whether theiradvertising for the specific brand and in a specific website, isproviding a return as expected, based on prior use metrics, current usemetrics, or other information.

If for instance, an advertiser places ads in one site, two sites, ormultiple sites, and/or also a brand site(s), the use metrics can bebroken down in a number of ways. The advertiser can be provided withdetailed metrics for single sites, multiple sites, multiple brand sites,or a combination of all. Consequently, the advertiser is able to obtainrich information that is broken down into the best way understood by theadvertiser and will allow for intelligent decisions regarding theplacement of further ads, renewals, cancellations, etc.

FIG. 11D illustrates an example where a user may be provided with aposting conditions region 966, a posting cost region 968, a packagepricing region 970, and a discount region 972. These different regionsmay be provided to the ad owner (or marketing professionals) asadditional ad owner tools that allow the user to determine what theconditions are for the posting (e.g., posting contract), as well as thecost associated with posting an advertisement in each of the websites,as well as the posting in the brand site. Additional features mayinclude the package pricing capability that will allow a user to postone advertisement associated with a particular brand, and thatadvertisement is automatically populated to all instances of the brandthroughout the various websites.

Additionally, the user may be provided with discount information forpricing associated with package postings. E-commerce transaction screensmay also be provided to allow the user to submit content, formatcontent, pay for content, monitor demographics associated with theirpostings, and monitor income generated from user activity.

FIG. 11E illustrates a metrics reporting screen that may provide yetadditional information to the user that is posting advertisements on thebrand sites. The advertiser may be provided with detailed monitoring 974that may be granularly displayed for different aspects of the variouswebsites, as well as the brand site. Example metrics may includedemographics of users accessing the specific websites, the useractivities on those websites, the user contributions to those websites,prior historic performance for the types of ads posted on thesewebsites, previous sales, clicks, and other metrics associated withdetermining whether advertisements are performing or not.

These detailed metrics 974 may also be provided for the brand site, asspecific advertisements may also be joined or placed in close relationto specific portions of content on the brand site. For instance, anadvertiser may wish to have his or her brand advertisement placed nextto music type content. Or, the advertiser may wish to have his or heradvertisement always placed closer to message boards related to thebrand. In either case, the user/advertiser is provided with variouscapabilities to place advertisements and tie them specifically to abrand and brand parts within a brand site, or the websites from whichthe content is shared with the brand site. These and other advertisingfeatures are enabled by the systems, methods and computer readable mediaof the advertising modules.

III. Cross-Market Brand Ad Placement and Optimization

FIG. 12 illustrates a graphical representation of a plurality ofinstance-level websites 134, as related to acceptance of proposedadvertising, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.Each of the instance-levels 134 represent websites that are part of anetwork of sites. The network of sites can include websites forparticular types of interests, information, communication, groups, etc.An example network of websites is the network serviced by Yahoo!™, Inc.,of Sunnyvale, Calif.

The websites can be accessed from a homepage that provides links to thevarious instance-level websites, directly at a given address, or bylink. For purposes of illustration, the instance-level websites includean autos website, a travel website, a sports website, and others. Inthis illustration, a user may wish to place an advertisement in one ormore of the instance-level websites of the network. The proposedadvertisement “A” 1012 is the advertisement that the user wishes toplace on one or more websites of the network. The proposed advertisementA 1012 is shown to contain ad content 1020. This ad content 1020 willinclude advertisement data that will then be propagated to the variousinstance-level websites per the final placement selections dictated byoptimized processing, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

As shown, the instance-level websites can include content of varioustypes, such as text, images, video, graphics, animations, andcombinations thereof. Particularly, the instance-level websites caninclude a plurality of modules 1010 that serve as self-contained modulepage entities that can be placed, removed, updated, etc., to or fromeach of the various websites. The modules 1010 may be capable ofreceiving the proposed advertisement “A” as shown, and the modules can,and often do include other content. In one embodiment, theinstance-level websites can include content related to a particularbrand, and such brand related content is noted as “B” 1014. B 1014 isshown integrated within various parts of the instance-level websites134, as well as in various modules 1010.

As noted above, a brand site 124 is one that primarily caters to theparticular brand, whereas the instance-level websites can includecontent related to the brand, but are not necessarily targeting a focusaround the brand. Thus, a user wishing to place an advertisement andcorrelate that advertisement to a particular brand, would have to selectvarious instance-level websites that have at least some correlation tothe brand. If the brand site 124 relates to a brand of truck-typevehicles, then the user wishing to place ad “A”, may wish to place hisadvertisement for the ad instance 1020 in close relation to the truckbrand. Although a truck is noted to be a brand, it should be broadlyunderstood that the brand can be for any commercial brand, and can be inthe form of products, services, people, groups, etc.

The user could place the advertisement directly in the brand site 124,but the user may also wish to place the advertisement A in the differentinstance-level websites, and so positioned in some type to relationshipto the brand content that may be present in the various instance-levelwebsites. As shown in the autos site, brand related content B is shownplaced in close relation to the desired placement of the proposedadvertisement A 1012. Thus, a user would benefit from placing theadvertisement content 1020 in close relation to the brand content B,which may be currently shown on the auto site. In a similar way, theuser would benefit from placing the advertisement A in close relation tothe brand content in the travel site and in the sports site. However,placing advertisements next to particular brand content on the variousinstance-level websites may be difficult due to the ever-changingcontent on the instance-level websites.

In one embodiment, a processing engine is configured to allow for theautomated recommendation of placements for particular advertisements inthe different instance-level websites, depending on the user's definedgoal. For example, if the user wishes to place an advertisement that istargeting a new product introduction, the user may wish to optimize theplacement for optimum visual impact as opposed to optimizing the revenuethat may be generated from the advertisement itself. If the user wasoptimizing for cost of placement, a different model would be generated.Each of the models would, however, be generated so that placement of theadvertisement is placed or presented in close relation to a particularbrand identity, as may be selected by the user.

FIG. 13 illustrates a process for inputting attributes about a proposedadvertisement, and then processing the advertisement to generate an admodel that identifies particular sites for which the ad should beplaced, in relation to the brand that is selected. Initially, in anattribute's entry page 1042, a user is asked to define the ad inoperation 1040. The user is prompted to select various categories 1044,which include, for example, what type of product or service, the targetcustomer, the marketing budget, the type of ad (graphic, text, video,etc.), and how the ad relates to the brand, and the level of promotiondesired for the particular advertisement. The content for the ad mayalso be uploaded at this time.

It should be noted that these parameters are provided as an example, andthey are not exhaustive of the different particulars and attributes thatcan be used to define the type of ad for which a user wishes to place,in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Based on theattributes that are provided by the user, the system will then providean initial site selection page 1046. The initial site selection page1046 will allow the user to identify sites for the ad in operation 1048.In this embodiment, the user is presented with a plurality of differentbrand sites. The plurality of brand sites are noted as a, b, and c.Other brand sites may also be provided for the user so the user canselect the particular brand that he or she wishes to target, for theparticular advertisements.

In one embodiment, the user may select a particular brand “a” thatrelates to trucks. The brand site for trucks “a” is then processed so asto generate a new plurality of network sites that include contentrelated to the brand “a”. The network sites are d, e, and f. If,however, the user had selected a different brand, different networksites would be suggested in this initial site selection page.Accordingly, the user will first have to select a brand site and then,the system will generate a plurality of options or categories of networksites that are suitable for advertising the particular ad so that acorrelation can be made between the selected brand and the ad that isgoing to be placed.

Based on the selections by the user, the process moves to an ad modelpage 1050. Ad model 1050 is generated by processing site metrics (of theselected sites, e.g., sites a, d and f) to establish ad placement scoresand also the cost for the ad model. As shown, the processing 1052 willtake into account selected site metrics 1053 a, cost analysis 1053 b,and historical performance for similar ads 1053 c. The processing willthus generate the data that is presented in the ad model 1050. The admodel 1050 illustrates the various selected sites, which are shown to be“a” for the particular brand, and “b” and “f” of the network sites.

This selection is generated based on the selections inputted by the userin the screen 1046. Based on the user's entries, a particular cost isderived for the placement of the ad. In addition, a score is generatedfor the ad, and the score is an absolute score similar to a rating. Thehigher the score, the closer the ad placement is to the desired goal.Thus, the score is the result of processing the selected site metricsfor the sites “d” and “f”, and analyzing the historical performance forsimilar ads on those particular sites, as well as the cost analysis forthe type of ad being generated. The processing can also generate userdemographics that indicate who would be interested in these particularadvertisements, and the purchase rate associated with these particularadvertisements.

Purchase rate can be categorized in terms of the number of clicks, thenumber of sales, the number of interest or comments, or different typesof interaction. Additionally, the user can be provided with a listing ofsimilar products that have advertised with this particular ad model andthe ad's success. At this point, the ad model is the preliminary modelgenerated based on the user's own selection of the particular networksites that were d and f. If the user wishes to further optimize the admodel, the user can select operation 1051 so that the ad model can beoptimized using multi-variable optimization.

In FIG. 14, a screen 1060 is shown that illustrates a recommended admodel. The recommended ad model has been adjusted so as to recommendthat the user only advertise in sites e and f, as opposed to theoriginal sites that the user had selected, which were d and f. Theselimited number of sites are shown in this example for ease ofillustration, however, it should be understood that the number of sitescan be many (including sub-pages or links to single sites), and a numberof types of brand sites can also be many. In this example, the cost forplacing the ad has actually been reduced for the user, while the scoreincreased from 37 to 53. In addition, user demographics are also shownsuch that the purchase rate has increased to 60 percent. In thisexample, the optimized and recommended ad model was primarily optimizedto increase the purchase rate.

The particular parameter that the user wishes to optimize on is an inputto the system and thus, the recommended ad model would be different ifthe user's inputs or desired optimization parameters are different. Inoperation 1062, the generated recommended new ad site selections and/orad presentation is generated, based on a multi-variable optimization,and the optimization criteria provided by the user. Multi-variableoptimization is a mathematical process that takes in a plurality ofvariables, such as the desired outcome of the ad, and then presents aselection of variables that would optimize as specific outcome.Multi-variable optimization mathematics and processes are well known inthe art, and any number of these processes may be used so as to enablethe optimization of the particular criteria defined by the user.

In screen 1060, the user is provided with another option to view the ad1012, and thus present a screen 1064 that shows the advertisement A inthe particular brand site, as well as the network sites that wereselected to be optimal, based on the user's criteria. The finalized adplacement 1066 is then presented so that the user can view the ad in theexample websites, by populating the ad as shown in operation 1068.Formatting may also be applied, to enable the user to visualize either afinal product or a prototype of the ad placement.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example where an ad for a product or service A isplaced in relation to a particular brand a. The structure 1070 is shownto illustrate the relationship of a user selecting a particular brandfor which to correlate or assimilate the particular ad placement andthen populate that advertisement to the various websites, which may bepart of the network or other brands. In this example, the other networksites are 1074. Each of the sites that are shown to be part of thenetwork site, e.g., sites d, e, and f, have some content that relate tobrand A.

For this reason, the user that selected the advertisement to be relatedto brand a, will be shown a listing of network sites that also includeat least some content that relates to brand a, integrated within thenetwork sites. If the selection were for the advertisement to relate tobrand b, a different subset of network sites will be presented, andsimilarly, if the advertisement were to be related to brand c, yet adifferent subset of network sites would be presented as options for theuser to initially select the brand to be placed on those sites.

As noted above, there is an initial selection by the user to selectparticular network sites based on an initial brand selected, and thus,to generate an initial and preliminary ad model as shown in 1050 of FIG.13. If the user wishes to optimize the ad model, the optimized modelwould then generate potentially a different set of network sites toadvertise in, as opposed to the initial set. In other embodiments, itmay be possible that the initial ad model would be identical to therecommended ad model, if the user intelligently selected the differentsites and the different sites correlate to the particular goals desiredby the user, when optimized using the multi-variable optimization.

FIG. 16 illustrates a system where an ad processing server 1202 is shownin communication with a user that provides advertising input. The adprocessing server 1202 is in communication with metrics servers 1204.The metrics servers 1204 are themselves, communicating with the networksite server processing and the brand site server processing servers1206, and 1208, respectively. The network site and brand site serversprocessed the different websites that are then monitored to determinemetrics of use, popularity, purchases, interactions, communication,changes in content, and the like.

These various metrics are then stored by the metric servers 1204 andmade available to the ad processing module 1202. The metrics servers1204 are therefore continuously updated based on the activity at thenetwork sites and the brand sites. The brand site activity is recordedas shown in monitors 1210 and the network site activity is recorded in1211. The network site activity is recorded for metrics calculations ifthe network site includes some brand content that may relate to aparticular brand site. For instance, if a sports site includes somecontent related to one of the brand sites, that particular website andthe content that is related to the brand site content on the networksite is monitored.

By monitoring these metrics, it is possible for the ad model processing1202 to identify network sites that include some brand content thatrelates the brand, and also fine tune the suggested network sites, basedon the target optimizing criteria provided by the user. Theadvertisement A can then be populated to the different network sites andbrand sites, if appropriate.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example where user defined goals 1220 may includea plurality of goals. The plurality of goals may be optimized forproduct introduction, demographics, optimized to relate a product to abrand, cost placement, purchase rate over time, etc. These goals areinputs from the user, in addition to the definition of the ad and therelated focus of the ad to some brand. The ad model processing 1202′takes in the inputs and executes an optimization engine. Theoptimization engine process a number of multivariable computations tooptimize on one or more criteria, as may be defined by the user. Examplemultivariable computations includes graphing techniques to findinteractions in lines, planes and multidimensional surfaces. In somecases, the multivariable computations include finding minimums ormaximums in curves, surfaces or intersecting planes. Examplemultivariable algorithms include, but are not limited to (1) minimumsearch by coordinate and conjugate directions descent, (2) Powell'smethod; (3) the modified Hooke-Jeeves method (4) simplex Nelder-Meedmethod; (5) quasi-gradient method; (6) random directions search; and (7)simulated annealing, all of which are know and incorporated herein byreference. Multivariable optimization is also sometimes referred to asmultivariate testing or multivariate optimization. The generic processdefines the ability to “optimize” content or groups of content, topresent the best possible combination of content given some limitingcriteria. The limiting criteria, as used herein, is the user's goal.

The goal may be to generate more revenue, define a splashyadvertisement, a high profile promotion, etc. The process can beholistic and should be able to work on any page on a site and on anyform of content, and can recognizes interrelationships among elements ona page and a site. Thus, based on the optimization, a set of recommendedwebsites are presented to the user in the form of a recommended ad model1222. The websites that are recommended each have at least some contentthat relates to the brand.

IV. Brand Site Product and Computer-Implemented Structure

Embodiments of the present invention may be practiced with variouscomputer system configurations including hand-held devices,microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. Theinvention can also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a wire-based or wireless network.

With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that theinvention can employ various computer-implemented operations involvingdata stored in computer systems. These operations are those requiringphysical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually, though notnecessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magneticsignals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared andotherwise manipulated.

Any of the operations described herein that form part of the inventionare useful machine operations. The invention also relates to a device oran apparatus for performing these operations. The apparatus can bespecially constructed for the required purpose, or the apparatus can bea general-purpose computer selectively activated or configured by acomputer program stored in the computer. In particular, variousgeneral-purpose machines can be used with computer programs written inaccordance with the teachings herein, or it may be more convenient toconstruct a more specialized apparatus to perform the requiredoperations.

The invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on acomputer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any datastorage device that can store data, which can be thereafter be read by acomputer system. The computer readable medium can also be distributedover a network-coupled computer system so that the computer readablecode is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail forpurposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certainchanges and modifications can be practiced within the scope of theappended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is notto be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified withinthe scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving attributes of anadvertisement to be placed on one of a plurality of brand-centricwebsites, the brand-centric websites focused on a brand; presenting thebrand-centric websites to a remote computer based on the attributes;receiving a selection of the one of the brand-centric websites from theremote computer; analyzing the one of the brand-centric websites tosearch a computer network to generate suggestions of content-relatedwebsites in which an advertisement is to be placed, wherein thecontent-related websites in which the advertisement is to be placed hasless information regarding the brand than that in the one of thebrand-centric websites in which the advertisement is to be placed,wherein data for generating content of the one of the brand-centricwebsites and the content-related websites is obtained by a harvester,wherein a data type processor is configured to classify the data intovideo, audio, and text to generate classified data, wherein theclassified data is stored in an entertainment content repository,wherein the content-related websites request the classified data viacorresponding application programming interfaces from the contentrepository; receiving a selection of one or more of the content-relatedwebsites from the remote computer; obtaining metrics for similaradvertisements when placed on a plurality of selected websites, theselected websites including the one of the brand-centric websites andthe one or more of the content-related websites; processing the metricsto define an advertising model, the advertising model having a scorecorrelated to effectiveness of the advertisement; and optimizing theadvertising model to define a recommended advertising model, therecommended advertising model defining optimal suggestions of websitesincluding the one of the brand-centric websites that has the classifieddata obtained from the entertainment content repository and in which theadvertisement is to be placed.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theoptimizing of the advertising model includes executing multivariableoptimization to enable emphasis or non-emphasis of selection criteria.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the attributes include a type ofproduct or service to be advertised, or a marketing budget of anadvertiser, or a type of the advertisement, or a target customer of theadvertisement, or a combination of two or more thereof.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the harvester is configured to obtain the data forgenerating the content from a plurality of third-party data feeds,wherein the third-party data feeds have information about a movieregarding the brand or a game regarding the brand or a television showregarding the brand or a combination of two or more thereof.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring user interaction of aplurality of users with one or more modules of the one of thebrand-centric websites; accessing a plurality of profiles of theplurality of users interacting with the one or more modules; suggestingchanges to the one or more modules based on the user interaction and theprofiles of the plurality of users.
 6. The method of claim 1, the methodfurther comprising: monitoring user interaction of a plurality of userswith one or more modules on the one of the brand-centric websites;accessing a plurality of profiles of the plurality of users interactingwith the one or more modules; allowing access to information regardingthe user interaction and the user profiles to a producer of the one ofthe brand-centric websites; receiving modifications to the one or moremodules regarding the brand from the producer of the one of thebrand-centric websites.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the metricsinclude revenues generated by placing the similar advertisements on theselected websites, or demographics of a plurality of users accessing theselected websites, or a number of clicks of the similar advertisementsplaced on the selected websites, or sales of products or services fromthe similar advertisements placed on the selected websites, or acombination of two or more thereof.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinthe similar advertisements advertise the brand.
 9. The method of claim1, wherein said processing the metrics is performed to determine ademographic of users interested in purchasing a product or serviceadvertised by the advertisement.
 10. A system comprising: an adprocessing server in communication with a remote computer configured tobe accessed by an advertiser, the ad processing server configured toreceive attributes from the remote computer of an advertisement to beplaced in one of a plurality of brand-centric websites, wherein the adprocessing server is configured to provide the brand-centric websites tothe remote computer based on the attributes, wherein the ad processingserver is configured to receive a selection of the one of thebrand-centric websites from the remote computer, wherein the adprocessing server is configured to analyze the one of the brand-centricwebsites to search a computer network to generate suggestions ofcontent-related websites in which the advertisement is to be placed,wherein the content-related websites in which the advertisement is to beplaced has less information regarding a brand than that in the one ofthe brand-centric websites in which the advertisement is to be placed; aharvester coupled to the ad processing server, wherein the harvester isconfigured to obtain data for generating content of the one of thebrand-centric websites and the content-related websites; a data typeprocessor coupled to the harvester, wherein the data type processor isconfigured to classify the data into video, audio, and text to generateclassified data; a content repository coupled to the data typeprocessor, wherein the content repository is configured to store theclassified data, wherein the content-related websites request theclassified data via corresponding application programming interfacesfrom the content repository, a metrics server coupled to the adprocessing server, wherein the metrics server is configured to receive aselection of the one or more of the content-related websites, whereinthe metrics server is configured to process metrics for similaradvertisements when placed on a plurality of selected websites, whereinthe selected websites include the one of the brand-centric websites andthe one or more of the content-related websites, wherein the metricsserver is configured to process the metrics to define an advertisingmodel, wherein the advertising model has a score correlated toeffectiveness of the advertisement; and an optimization engine coupledto the metrics server, wherein the optimization engine is configured tooptimize the advertising model to define a recommended advertisingmodel, wherein the recommended advertising model defines optimalsuggestions of websites including the one of the brand-centric websitesthat has the classified data obtained from the entertainment contentrepository and in which the advertisement is to be placed.
 11. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the advertising model is optimized byperformed multivariable optimization to enable emphasis or non-emphasisof selection criteria.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein theattributes include a type of product or service to be advertised, or amarketing budget of an advertiser, or a type of the advertisement, or atarget customer of the advertisement, or a combination of two or morethereof.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein the harvester is configuredto obtain the data for generating the content from a plurality ofthird-party data feeds, wherein the third-party data feeds haveinformation about a movie regarding the brand or a game regarding thebrand or a television show regarding the brand or a combination of twoor more thereof.
 14. The system of claim 10, further comprising: amonitoring processor coupled to the metrics server, wherein themonitoring processor is configured to monitor user interaction of aplurality of users with one or more modules of the one of thebrand-centric websites; a user profile processor coupled to the metricsserver, wherein the user profile processor is configured to access aplurality of profiles of the plurality of users interacting with the oneor more modules; a suggestion processor coupled to the monitoringprocessor and the user profile processor, wherein the suggestionprocessor is configured to suggest changes to the one or more modulesbased on the user interaction and the profiles of the plurality ofusers.
 15. The system of claim 10, further comprising: a monitoringprocessor coupled to the metrics server, wherein the monitoringprocessor is configured to monitor user interaction of a plurality ofusers with one or more modules on the one of the brand-centric websites;a user profile processor coupled to the metrics server, wherein the userprofile processor is configured to access a plurality of profiles of theplurality of users interacting with the one or more modules, wherein thecontent repository is configured to store information regarding the userinteraction and the profiles, wherein access to the informationregarding the user interaction and the user profiles is provided to aproducer remote computer that is configured to be accessed by a producerof the one of the brand-centric websites, a modification processorcoupled to the producer remote computer, wherein the modificationprocessor is configured to receive from the producer remote computerchanges regarding the brand to be made to the one of the brand-centricwebsites.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein the metrics includerevenues generated by placing the similar advertisements on the selectedwebsites, or demographics of a plurality of users accessing the selectedwebsites, or a number of clicks of the similar advertisements placed onthe selected websites, or sales of products or services from the similaradvertisements placed on the selected websites, or a combination of twoor more thereof.
 17. The system of claim 10, wherein the similaradvertisements advertise the brand.
 18. The system of claim 10, whereinthe metrics server is configured to process the metrics for the similaradvertisements to determine a demographic of users interested inpurchasing a product or service advertised by the advertisement.
 19. Acomputer readable medium containing program instructions, whereinexecution of the program instructions by one or more processors of acomputer system causes the one or more processors to execute a pluralityof operations of: receiving attributes of an advertisement to be placedon one of a plurality of brand-centric websites, the brand-centricwebsites focused on a brand; presenting the brand-centric websites to aremote computer based on the attributes; receiving a selection of theone of the brand-centric websites from the remote computer; analyzingthe one of the brand-centric websites to search a computer network togenerate suggestions of content-related websites in which anadvertisement is to be placed, wherein the content-related websites inwhich the advertisement is to be placed has less information regardingthe brand than that in the one of the brand-centric websites in whichthe advertisement is to be placed, wherein data for generating contentof the one of the brand-centric websites and the content-relatedwebsites is obtained by a harvester, wherein a data type processor isconfigured to classify the data into video, audio, and text to generateclassified data, wherein the classified data is stored in anentertainment content repository, wherein the content-related websitesrequest the classified data via corresponding application programminginterfaces from the content repository; receiving a selection of one ormore of the content-related websites from the remote computer; obtainingmetrics for similar advertisements when placed on a plurality ofselected websites, the selected websites including the one of thebrand-centric websites and the one or more of the content-relatedwebsites; processing the metrics to define an advertising model, theadvertising model having a score correlated to effectiveness of theadvertisement; and optimizing the advertising model to define arecommended advertising model, the recommended advertising modeldefining optimal suggestions of websites including the one of thebrand-centric websites that has the classified data obtained from theentertainment content repository and in which the advertisement is to beplaced.
 20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein theoptimizing of the advertising model includes executing multivariableoptimization to enable emphasis or non-emphasis of selection criteria.